Hay-carrier.



H. L, FERRIS.

HAY CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. 1916.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

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HAY CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. I916.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

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HAY CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. I916.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

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H. L. FERRIS.

HAY CARRIER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 4, 1916.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 FEED PATENT @FFTtlE.

HENRY II. FERRIS, 0F HARVARD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB. T0 HUNT, HELM, FERRIS & COMPANY, OF HARVARD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

HAY-CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

Application filed May 4, 1916. Serial No. 95,435.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. FnRRIs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Harvard, in the county of McI-Ienry and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hay-Carriers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in hay-carriers.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a form of hay-carrier which may be reversed without removal from the track. The manner in which this object is accomplished, together with the various secondary objects and advantages of the invention, will be more fully understood from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved hay-carrier, one of the sling-ropes being removed. Fig. 2 is an end elevation taken from the right end of Fig. 1, and showing both sling-ropes in place. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1, parts being shown in section. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the removable and rotatable carrierhead. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the sheave and connected parts, the lock being shown in section, and Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates the trolley, or traveler-casting, which, as shown, is provided with a pair of opposed wheels 11 at each end, these wheels being adapted to travel upon the flanges of a track 12. The lower .portion of the traveler-casting 10 is annular in form, the inner face of the annulus being deeply grooved, as shown at 13 (Figs. 4 and 7). The operative parts of the hay-carrier are supported bya circular head (Fig. 5), designated 14, and having a flange 15 which rides in the groove 13, whereby the parts are assembled for relative rotation. For locking the head 14 in any one of three predetermined positions it is provided with apertures 16 within which a spring-pressed plunger 17 vertically reciprocable in the traveler-casting 1O cooperates. For operating the plunger the latter has formed thereon an outstanding arm 18 which projects through a slot in the adjacent web of the casting 10.

The sheave 19, which may be of the usual form, is journaled in a separate structural element formed of a plurality of castings, generally designated by 20, this member being swung as a unit from the head 14 by a pivot-bolt 22 which passes through opposed depending ears carried by the head and through a journal-portion 23 of the member 20.

The cable or rope-lock or clamp for 00- operating with the line upon the sheave 19 is in the form of a generally U-shaped or forked arm 24, the bifurcations of which embrace the sheave 19 within the shroud portion of the frame 20, and are pivoted thereto at 25 in proximity to the ournal of the sheave. One of the bifurcations of the arm 24 carries a segmental gear 26 which extends outwardly through a cored aperture 27 in the shroud. Pivoted to this same face of the shroud at 28 there is a second segmental gear 29, the teeth of which mesh with those of the gear 26, and for operating the gear 29 and through it the cable-lock, there is provided a link 30 connected at one end to a bent arm 31 cast integrally with the gear 29, and at the other end to the depending end 32 of the tripmember. The latter, designated generally by 33 (Fig. 1), is journaled for movement in a vertical plane, the journal-bolt 34 being carried by cars formed upon the head 14. In addition to the depending arm 32 the trip-member carries a hook 35, upon which the swivelloop 36 of the line bight 37 is designed to be hung (Fig. 2). Above the journal-bolt 34 the trip-member is provided with arms 38, 38 which are designed to cooperate with a trip-block 39 fastened upon the track 12. A journal-pin 40 carried by the head 10 some distance below and transversely of the journal 34, has mounted thereon a lever 41, which carries a lug 42 having a flat upper support the lower face 42 of the arm 38 The lever 41 is normally urged in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed ln Fig. 3, by

a spring-plunger 43, and may be moved to the'position shown in Fig. 3 against the resistance of this plunger, either by an arm 44, the end of which is perforated to receive the usual trip-rope, or by a depending push-rod 45 connected to one end of the lever 41 at its upper end and having an enlarged foot 46 at its lower end, in position to be engaged by the blocks 47 slung in the line 37 whenthese members reach their fully elevated position. The push-rod 45 passes through an eye 48 bolted to the shroud-portionof the casting 20. For limiting the counter-clockwise rotation of the lever 41 under the tension of the spring-plunger 43, the lever carries a lug 50, which engages with the lower edge of the corresponding car which supports the journal 40 (Figs. 2

and 3). Similarly, the outward swinging of the casting 20 about its journal 22 is limited by a lug 51 which contacts with a depending flange formed upon the head 14 (Fig. 3).

The :form of carrier described is particularly intended for handling hay in slings, the two blocks 47 on the line 37 being provided for attachment to the ends of the the track 12 toward the trip-block 39 thereon,.th'e arm 38 will contact with the near aside 0' the trip-block, and upon continued movem nt of the traveler the casting 33 will be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, whereby through the link 30 the segmental gears v29, 26, will operate to throw the rope-lock counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, under the force of the spring-plunger 43', until stopped by engagement of the lug with the frame, in which position the arm 42 of the lever 41 will lie beneath the arm 38, and thereby lock the same in the upper position- The arms 38 and: 38 now embracing the two faces'of'the stationary trip-block 39, the traveler will be locked to thetrack, and the line 37 will be released,

a both of these operations taking place automatically. The blocks 47 may now be pulled down, or permitted to run down by gravity,

, and attached to the slings under the load of hay, which is to be hoisted and conveyed.

' X Aspower is applied to the line 37, the. two

blocks which form'the two angles of an isosceles triangle will be drawn together,

closing the slings to embrace the load,- and simultaneously with, or after this hction, the blocks will e elevated. It should be particularly noted that by my construction the load upon the blocks 47 is supported centrally of the traveler 10, as is apparent from Fig. 1. At their upper limit of movement the blocks 47 will contact with the footpiece 46 of the push-rod 45, and by continued movement will elevate the latter, throwing the lever 41 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, and thereby withdrawing the arm 42 from beneath the arm 38 By reason of the fact that the bight of the line 37 has its swivel 36 hung upon the arm 35 of the casting 33, half of the load held by the blocks 47 is instantly effective as a source of power for rotating the casting 33 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4. This casting is therefore instantly swung to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4, whereby the arm 38 is free from the trip-block 39 and the pivoted lock 20 is swung in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, until it comes into contact with and locks the line 37. It should be particularly noted that owing to the slight eccentricity of the locking arm 24, the looking surface thereof moves in substantially the path of the line itself. In practice it has been found almost impossible to instantaneously lock the line under the load of the sling, there being usually a certain small percentage of slip after the locking device has come in contact with the rope, and before it has exerted sufiicient force to completely lock the same. This small percentage of slip is highly destructive of the line. By my construction the line and the locking surface of the member 24 move in circular paths, so nearly concentric that the line becomes wedged and absolutely locked without having been abraded.

It is often the case that the trip block 39 will. be fastened intermediate the length of a track, as where the barn is arranged with a central drive-way and hay-mows on either side thereof. It therefore becomes necessary to provide for reversing the carrier, so that it may work in either dirction along the track from the trip-block. By my construction this reversal may be accomplished without removing the carrier from the track. Assuming that one mow has been filled, the operator, at the time of taking down the sheave at the corresponding end of the track, will pull the traveler within reach by the line 37 and, first releasing the plunger 17 from its engagement with the aperture 16 in the head 14, will turn the latter through 90, permitting the plunger to fall into the corresponding aperture. The entire head 14, including the arms 38 and 38 of thecasting 33, will thereby be turned at right-angles to the track.

may now be pulled freely across the track past the trip-block 39 thereon and to the other end. At the time of attaching the sheave at the other end of the track, the operator will again release the plunger 17 and further rotate the head 90, permitting the plunger to again seat in the corresponding recess. By these operations the carrier will have been reversed with the greatest facility and without removing the traveler from the track.

While I have shown and described in considerable detail one specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is illustrative only, and for the purpose of making clear the nature and objects of the invention, and that such description is not to be regarded as a limitation of the scope of the invention, except in so far as I have included such limitations withinthe terms of the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in the invention as broadly as is permissible, in view of the prior art.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a hay-carrier, a traveler adapted to run upon a supporting track, a sheave hung from the traveler, a clamp adapted to engage the line upon the sheave, a trip-device, means for attaching the bight of the line thereto, and connections between the tripdevice and the clamp for simultaneous operation of the two under the pull of the line.

2. In a hay-carrier, a traveler adapted to run upon a supporting track, a sheave hung from the traveler, a line clamp pivoted eccentrically of the sheave to wedge the line against the latter, a trip-device pivoted in the traveler, means for attaching the bight of the line to the trip-device eccentrically thereof, and link connections between the trip-device and the clamp for simultaneous operation of the two under the pull of the line bight.

3. In a hay-carrier including a track and a trip-block carried thereby, the combination with a traveler adapted to run upon the track, carrier mechanism carried by and swiveled to the carrier to rotate horizon tally thereon and including gripping mechanism, a trip member carried by the carrier mechanism and arranged to engage the tripblock to release the gripping mechanism when engaged with the trip-block, said trip member being provided with upwardly projecting arms to engage opposite sides of the trip-block and being located substantially at the center of rotation of the carrier mechanism, whereby when the carrier mechanism is turned 90 on the traveler the trip-block may pass between the upwardly extending arms of the trip member.

4;. In a sling carrier adapted to run upon a track, a trip member pivoted upon the axis transverse of the line of the track, ropelocking means operated by the movement of the trip member, a locking dog adapted to hold the trip member in the position in which the rope is released, the locking dog being pivoted upon an axis at right-angles to the pivot of the trip member.

5. In a sling carrier adapted to run upon a track, a trip member pivoted on an axis transverse to the track, rope-clamping means operated by the movement of the trip member, means carried by the trip member on one side of the line of the track for supporting one end of a rope, and a sheave parallel to the line of the track carried an equal distance on the opposite side of the line of the track whereby the load is balanced laterally on the track, a bight is formed transverse to the track and a part of the load is carried by the trip member to operate the rope lock.

6. In a sling carrier adapted to run upon a track, a trip member pivoted on an axis transverse to the track, rope-clamping means operated by the movement of the trip member, means carried by the trip member on one side of the line of the track for supporting one end of a rope, a sheave parallel to the line of the track carried an equal distance on the opposite side of the line of the track whereby the load is balanced laterally on the track, a bight is formed transverse to the track and a part of the load is carried by the trip member to operate the rope lock, and a locking dog adapted to er and hold the trip member in the position in which the rope is released, said locking dog being pivoted on an axis at right-angles to the axis of the trip member.

7. In a sling carrier a traveler, a single integral casting swiveled thereto to rotate horizontally and a trip member, a locking dog for the trip member and a rope-carrying sheave all pivotally supported by lugs cast integral with said member.

8. In a sling carrier a traveler adapted to run upon a track, an integral member swiveled thereto to rotate horizontally, a trip member pivoted between integral lugs on said rotatable member and transverse to the line of the track, a locking dog for the trip member also pivoted to lugs integral with said rotatable member and a rope-sheave pivoted to lugs integral with said rotatable member on an axis longitudinal of and parallel to the track and at one side thereof.

9. In a sling carrier a traveler adapted to run upon a track, a rotatable member swiveled thereto to rotate horizontally, a trip member pivoted between integral lugs on said rotatable member and transverse to the line of the track, a ionising dog for the trip member also pivoted to lugs integral with said rotatable member and a rope-sheave.

pivoted to lugs integral with said rotatable member on an axis longitudinal of and parallel to the track and at one side thereof,

' the trip member being provided, at an equal distance on the other side of the track line, With means for attaching a rope whereby a bight is formed transversely of the track.

copies of this patent may be obtained for plates,

HENRY L. FERRIS.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

